1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of dish draining racks and apparatus for maintaining dishes while draining and drying.
More specifically, the present invention relates to dish draining racks with expandable areas for maintaining wares to be drained, and to dish draining racks with controllable flow of water which has drained from the wares held by the rack.
2. Background of the Related Art
It is well known to use racks of various configurations to maintain dishes, pots, pans, utensils and other dishware and cookware while drying. These racks generally may maintain the wares relatively securely to prevent breakage and promote more rapid drying.
Draining racks generally consist of one or more surfaces adapted to accept the wares to be drained. These surfaces are of fixed area and accommodate a fixed number of wares, depending on size and geometry of the wares to be maintained by the drainer.
Several configurations of dish drainage racks are common. One configuration employs a slatted design wherein the surface of the dish drainer adapted for maintaining the wares consists of several slats which may securely receive plates, for example. Examples of this configuration are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,328,899 and 222,542. Other configurations forgo slats in favor of ribbed surfaces for maintaining wares. In this type of configuration, the surface for maintaining wares includes a series of ribs extending from the surface of the dish draining rack. These ribs act in a similar fashion to the slats of the previously discussed configuration, and are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. D448,132 S. Each of the foregoing designs provides a fixed area for receiving and maintaining wares. It is impossible to expand or contract the ware-drying area to accommodate greater or lesser capacities depending on the individual needs of users on a case-by-case basis.
In addition to securely maintaining wares while drying, draining racks also provide egress for water draining from wares. Currently known draining racks accomplish this in several manners. One common configuration for dish drainers provides direct draining of water through a plurality of orifices formed in the surface which maintains the wares. This often leads to the undesirable condition wherein the surface on which the drainer is placed, e.g., a kitchen counter top, becomes wet and untidy. In the slatted configuration, water is permitted to drain from the wares, through the slats, to the surface on which the dish drainer is place, e.g., a kitchen counter top. Again, this configuration promotes wet, untidy counter top and other surfaces.
Certain draining racks known in the art contain structures for collecting water which has drained from wares. These structures generally consist of a relatively large surface placed at the bottom of or underneath the draining rack. Some such structures permit collected water to flow over one or more edges of the structure into a sink or other desirable destination. Water collected in these structures, however, often is unable to adequately drain, requiring the user of the draining rack to manually evacuate the collected liquid.
It has also been a goal of designers of dish draining racks to provide draining racks which store easily when not in use. To this end, several foldable dish draining rack designs have been employed. One such foldable design is a “scissor” type design wherein the dish draining rack is comprised substantially of two members connected to one another at a pivot point, allowing the two members to rotate relative to one another in a scissor-like fashion. Another foldable design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,676 B1. This design includes an essentially planar surface for maintaining wares comprised of multiple hinged sections which fold for compact storage. Due to the design aspects directed towards storability in the foregoing implementations, the designs do not provide a great deal of protection of the wares being dried.
It is desirable, therefore, to create a dish draining rack which includes one or more expandable surfaces for receiving and maintaining wares to be dried. It is further desirable to create a dish draining rack which is storable and adequately protects the wares it holds. Finally, it is desirable to create a dish draining rack which provides for controllable removal of water which has drained from the wares held in the draining rack.